Media
Senate Boots Labor’s Private Health Cuts From Parliament
The Senate has today rejected the Albanese Government’s cut to the private health insurance rebate for older Australians. Senators from across the chamber backed a motion from Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator Anne Ruston, and Senator Jacqui Lambie to take the Bill off the Senate’s agenda, killing off the bill.
Dragged Into the Light: Labor’s Secret Numbers Show 78,000 Older Australians to Drop Cover
Documents the Albanese Government kept from the public show its own Department expects 78,000 older Australians to drop their private health insurance under Labor’s rebate cut, almost double the 44,000 figure Health Minister Mark Butler has used publicly.
Nowhere To Hide, Deaths On Labor’s Home Care Waitlist Nearly Double
More than 17 older Australians died every day waiting for home care in 2025-26, an increase of more than a third on the previous year, and almost double the number of Labor’s first year in office. In total, more than 6,400 older Australians died waiting, a figure the Albanese Government has been refusing to hand over to the Senate.
Labor’s Pensioner Penalty: Committee Waves Through Private Health Pensioner Tax
Labor Senators have used their numbers on the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee to back the Albanese Government’s cut to the private health insurance rebate for older Australians, ignoring the overwhelming weight of evidence presented to the inquiry and the vast majority of more than 600 submissions.
“Kick in the Teeth”: Doctors and Pensioners Slam Labor’s Private Health Cuts
Pensioners and Australia's leading medical specialists have together urged the Albanese Government to scrap its plan to axe the higher private health insurance rebate for older Australians.
Left Behind: Providers Set to Tell Senate Inquiry What Labor Won't Admit on Support at Home
Aged care providers, advocates and families will front the Senate inquiry into the Support at Home Program in Canberra tomorrow, and the evidence shows the Government's mismanaged implementation has led to a program that is failing older Australians.
Labor Finally Admits The Truth: The Algorithm Was Wrong All Along
Documents obtained under Freedom of Information reveal it was accepted, uncontested fact inside the Department of Health and Aged Care that assessors needed the ability to override the aged care algorithm.
Labor’s Last Chance: Friendless And Out of Excuses on Its Pensioner Tax
Today Labor has the chance to abandon their $3 billion cut to the private health insurance rebate, but the Government is set to force the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the PHI Rebate) Bill 2026 to a vote in the House of Representatives. Earlier this week Labor gagged its MPs from speaking on the Bill, clearly concerned their Party is acting against their communities.
Labor Gags Its Own MPS On $1.6 Billion Pensioner Health Tax
The Albanese Government today voted down a Coalition motion to suspend standing orders and allow all Labor MPs to speak on the Private Health Insurance Amendment (Modernising the PHI Rebate) Bill 2026, which cuts $3 billion from the private health insurance rebate for over-65s.
Lazy Minister, Lazy Legislation: Labor’s $1.6 Billion Pensioner Cash Grab
New Parliamentary Budget Office modelling has confirmed almost half of Labor’s $3 billion cut to the private health insurance rebate, close to $1.6 billion, will be ripped directly from the pockets of age pensioners, exposing why the Government fought so hard to keep its own modelling secret.
Older Australians Fight Back: Labor's $3 Billion Health Rebate Cut Faces Senate Scrutiny
Public hearings into the Albanese Government’s plan to cut the private health insurance rebate for more than 3.2 million older Australians begin today, with the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee to take evidence today and tomorrow.
Embattled Minister’s Aged Care About-Face, Late as Always
Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, has described Labor’s decision to extend the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) to 2029 as an “embarrassing backdown” after months of mounting evidence and pressure that abolishing the program would be reckless.
Answers Overdue: Senate Inquiry Into Contaminated Blood Scandal
The Senate has agreed to establish an inquiry into Australia's infected blood scandal, following a referral to the Community Affairs References Committee secured through cooperation between the Coalition and the crossbench.
Senator Ruston Statement on Tainted Blood
Decades ago, thousands of Australians, many of them children, were infected with Hepatitis C and HIV through contaminated blood products. Many have carried the physical and emotional toll of that ever since.I have met with a group of these survivors and listened to their stories. Health Minister Mark Butler has refused to do the same.
“When aged care fails, the cost is measured in lives”: Older Australians reveal the human impact of Labor’s aged care reforms
Older Australians, carers and advocates have delivered a devastating indictment of Labor’s aged care reforms, telling a Senate inquiry the system is failing people in deeply personal and damaging ways.
Labor's Own Department Admits Pensioners Will Be Forced to Go Without Under Private Health Tax Grab
Labor's own department has given the game away with internal documents warning pensioners would be forced to cut back on essentials, downgrade their cover, or drop it altogether and go without medical treatment under the Albanese Government’s private health insurance rebate cuts for over-65s
Labor's Support at Home Implementation Off the Rails
The Albanese Government’s implementation of the Support at Home program is off the rails, with the first full-day hearing of the Senate inquiry into the program exposing a litany of failures leaving older Australians without the care they need and were promised.
2025 National Drug Strategy Household Survey
The Coalition welcomes any decline in smoking rates and the long-term trend reflects decades of work by all governments.But Minister Butler should not mistake a headline for a success story, however, because buried in the same survey he celebrated today were a number of finding his press release glossed over entirely:
Inspector-General’s Damning Verdict: Labor’s Aged Care Crisis Laid Bare
The Albanese Labor Government’s aged care crisis has been laid bare by its own independent watchdog, with the Inspector-General of Aged Care using her National Press Club address today to deliver a damning assessment of a system “funding decline rather than independence”.
Labor Must Provide Certainty on the Future of Community Aged Care
More than 860,000 older Australians face being left without essential support services after a Senate inquiry confirmed the Albanese Government has no credible plan for the future of the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (CHSP) beyond 1 July 2027.
Coalition Introduces Human Override Bill to Fix Government’s Aged Care Assessment Mess
The Coalition has introduced the Aged Care Amendment (Restoring Human Override for Aged Care Needs Assessments) Bill 2026 which would force the Albanese Government to do what it has refused to do for months and put qualified assessors — not a computer algorithm — back in charge of aged care decisions.
Estimates Exposes Shambolic Albanese Budget
The shambolic Albanese Government Budget continued to unravel in the second week of Senate Estimates hearings with Ministers and officials unable to explain basic details or give adequate reasons for decisions that have angered the nation.
Labor’s Lies, Broken Promises and Failures Exposed
From the unravelling of a Budget built on lies and broken promises to their failed economic policies and wasteful spending, the Albanese Government’s ever mounting failures were exposed by the Coalition in Senate Estimates hearings this week.
Labor’s Budget Will Reduce Access to Essential Healthcare
The Albanese Government’s Budget has confirmed a harmful new tax on older Australians with private health insurance while failing to bolster the aged care system, increasing pressure on Australia’s struggling hospital system.
Regional Australians Paying the Price for Labor’s Health Failures
The Coalition is calling out the Albanese Labor Government for failing rural and regional Australians after twelve leading nursing and healthcare organisations have warned that Medicare is no longer delivering for communities in the bush.
Coalition Backs Sensible Reforms to Promote Organ Donation as Health Ministers Meet
The Coalition has reiterated its support for reforms to make organ donation registration easier by linking it to driver’s licences, ahead of the Health Ministers meeting today where the proposal is due to be discussed.
Australians over 65 Forced to Pay for Labor’s Residential Aged Care Crisis
The Albanese Labor Government’s announcement today is a clear admission it has created a serious crisis in residential aged care, and it is older Australians with private health insurance who will be forced to pay the price.
GP Training Announcement Doesn’t Fix Regional Doctor Workforce Pipeline
Today’s GP training reannouncement from the Albanese Labor Government does not fix the underlying issues impacting the serious health workforce crisis in regional Australia that Labor has made worse.
Decade-High Private Health Cost Hike Takes Effect
The Albanese Labor Government’s latest cost hike on the 15 million Australians who rely on private health insurance takes effect today, with premiums rising by 4.41 per cent in the middle of an escalating cost-of-living crisis.
Labor’s Broken Promise: South Australia Worst in the Nation for Urgent Care Clinic Opening Hours
The Albanese Labor Government has been exposed for its failure to deliver on its Urgent Care Clinic (UCC) rollout, with no evidence the clinics are reducing pressure on hospital emergency departments and not a single clinic in South Australia open for the extended hours Labor promised.
Another Labor Cost Hike for Australians with Private Health
The Albanese Labor Government has quietly imposed another cost increase on the 15 million Australians who rely on private health insurance, with premiums set to rise by 4.41 per cent during a cost-of-living crisis.
Albanese Government’s Aged Care Crisis Set to Worsen
Care providers and advocates are warning that hundreds of thousands of older Australians risk losing access to critical support services and be forced onto massive wait lists, as the Albanese Government moves to scrap the Commonwealth Home Support Program (CHSP) while the aged care system remains in crisis.
Thriving Kids Announcement Leaves Families with More Questions Than Answers
Today’s Thriving Kids announcement has left families of young children with developmental needs with more questions than answers, with the Albanese Government unable to explain how the promised support will actually be delivered on the ground or how it will impact the Budget.
Albanese Government Fails to Gift Hospitals Certainty over Christmas
Today’s Health Ministers Meeting has again exposed the Albanese Labor Government’s failure to negotiate in good faith with the states and territories to deliver funding certainty that Australia’s hospitals desperately need.
Prime Minister Misleading on Scrutiny of Aged Care Reforms
The Coalition has been forced to take the lead on protecting older Australians, following a string of failures by the Albanese Government on aged care that has again been highlighted by the Prime Minister today.
Government Walks Away from Hospital Funding Promise and Leaves Older Australians Stranded
The Albanese Labor Government has officially walked away from its commitment to lift the Commonwealth contribution for hospital funding at the same time as it has abandoned older Australians who are stuck in hospital waiting for aged care support.
Industry Projects Net Loss of Aged Care Beds as Access Crisis Deepens
Leading aged care industry analysts have delivered a devastating assessment of the Albanese Government’s aged care access crisis, projecting Australia will experience a net reduction in residential aged care beds by 2030.
Anthony Albanese Called Out for Aged Care and Hospital Failures
Every state and territory leader has today called out Anthony Albanese for breaking his hospital funding commitments, an unprecedented and united intervention that shows just how badly the Prime Minister has mismanaged Australia’s health, aged care and disability systems.
Coalition Takes the Lead on Impact of Microplastics on Women's Health
The Coalition has secured a Senate inquiry into the potential health impacts of microplastics, toxins and "forever chemicals" as part of our commitment to proactive, preventative health policy that puts families first.
Aged Care Crisis Worsens Bed Shortages
A major new industry report has laid bare the devastating impact of the Albanese Government’s aged care failures, revealing residential aged care supply increased by just 578 beds in 2024-25 – less than one-tenth of the 10,600 additional places needed per year to meet demand, as projected by the Department.
Labor's Senate Meltdown Denies Australians Access to Information
In Senate Question Time today, the Albanese Labor Government has used an outrageous display of disrespect to disrupt the Opposition and crossbench's transparency measures, which sought to hold the Government to account for its entrenched secrecy.
Coalition Holds Secretive Albanese Government to Account
The Coalition in the Senate has successfully held the Albanese Government to account this week, exposing a deeply entrenched culture of secrecy and a pattern of deliberately withholding critical information from the Australian Parliament and public.
Hobart Clinic a Victim of The Albanese Government's Inaction
The Hobart Clinic's impending closure is a devastating blow for Tasmanians who rely on vital mental health care, and it is yet another tragic symptom of the Albanese Labor Government's failure to act on the growing crisis facing Australia's private hospital sector.
Coalition Forces Labor Into Taking Action on Home Care Crisis
After two days of sustained questioning in Parliament the Coalition has forced the Albanese Labor Government to belatedly release tens of thousands of home care packages for older Australians who have been left waiting for far too long.
NDIS Reform Plans Big on Rhetoric, Light on Detail
The Coalition acknowledges the Government's promises to deliver further NDIS reforms but calls on the Government to move beyond words and now deliver real, practical action for people with disability, their families and the Australian community.
Coalition Commits $7.6 Million to Post-Natal Family Support in the Top End
An elected Dutton Coalition Government will ensure that the first order priority in Indigenous health is delivering better health outcomes, by funding organisations that are successful and make a practical difference for Indigenous Australians.
Press Conference, Mural Hall, APH
TOPICS: Coalition announcement of $7.6 million for Tresillian; Outcomes-based healthcare; Workforce retention in regional areas; Coalition's commitment to Regional Australia; Crime and anti-social behaviour in the Community; Coalition Commitment to Royal Commission into Sexual Abuse in Indigenous Communities
$2 Million Upgrade for Lyall Peacock Oval
The Nationals’ candidate for Hunter, Sue Gilroy, has announced $2 million in funding for a major upgrade of Lyall Peacock Oval, delivering modern, adaptable community facilities and upgraded field lighting, to better serve local sporting clubs and community groups.
.JPG)
The Coalition Will Provide a Lifeline to Critical Children’s Health Service
An elected Dutton Coalition Government will step in to save a critical healthcare service for babies and children with rare and devastating conditions, after Anthony Albanese refused to continue its funding.
More GPs for families in regional Australia under a Coalition Government
A Dutton-Littleproud Coalition Government will invest $100 million towards upgrading regional medical training facilities across Australia and delivering 200 additional regional medical Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs).
The Coalition Will Restore Crucial Funding for Suicide Prevention Research
An elected Dutton Coalition Government will continue our proud legacy of supporting life saving research into suicide prevention by investing $15 million to continue the National Suicide Prevention Research Fund.
A Dutton Coalition Government Will Boost Headspace Mental Health Support in Melton
An elected Dutton Coalition Government will invest $6.2 million to upgrade headspace Melton and ensure young Australians living in Melbourne's western suburbs have affordable and accessible mental health services.
A Dutton Coalition Government Will Boost Headspace Mental Health Support in Parramatta
A Dutton Coalition Government will invest $5 million to upgrade headspace Parramatta and ensure young Australians living in Western Sydney have better access to the mental health services they deserve.
Anthony Albanese Not Up to the Job of Combatting Illicit Tobacco
At the eleventh hour before an election, the Albanese Labor Government's announcement that they will finally provide additional resources towards the illicit tobacco black market is a clear admittance of failure.
Labor Forced to Follow Through on Aged Care Pay Promise
Today, the Albanese Labor Government has finally announced the expected funding for the implementation of the Fair Work Commission’s aged care pay determination, after Labor attempted to break their promise and delay the pay rise in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
Albanese Government's Weakness, Economic Incompetence and Lack of Transparency Exposed
The weakness, hypocrisy, economic incompetence and lack of transparency of the Albanese Labor Government has been starkly exposed during what is expected to be the final Senate estimates hearings before the 2025 Federal election.
Albanese Government has Questions to Answer Over Letter on Antisemitism in Medical Profession
The Albanese Labor Government admits it took no action in response to an alarming letter from more than 230 health practitioners in late 2023 raising allegations of severe antisemitic behaviour within Australia's health system.
.png)
.png)